Rosella in the Caves
by Seraphdragon7
Summary: An alternate ending to King's Quest IV. What happens if Rosella survives being caught by the troll?


Rosella and the Troll

Princess Rosella of Daventry crawled through the opening in the mountains that lead to the caves. She was returning from the swamps after gathering the magic fruit that could save her father's life. She stood in the dark cave and took up her lantern. Rosella remembered the chasm in the rocky cave, and she carefully felt her way through the dark and found the chasm. She took the wooden board she had found at the cave entrance behind the waterfall and placed it across the chasm. She managed to cross the chasm safely and recover her board. Rosella moved on through the pitch-black rocky caves of Tamir.

Suddenly she heard a monstrous roar behind her. Oh no! The vicious troll that lived in these caves was after her. She tried to run, but the troll was faster and he caught her. Grabbing her by the waist, he through her across his shoulders and dragged her off to meet her fate in the darkness of the caves.

The troll took her to a cave that was made up to be the troll's home. A fire pit was in the center, with a fire burning in it. The fire allowed Rosella to see more clearly. A roll of furs served as the troll's bed. There was an iron pot for cooking, a wooden club, some rope, and some stone tools.

The dark, hairy troll set Rosella down. "Me catch pretty girl." He said in broken English. "Make pretty girl wife. Wife make me happy." The troll took the rope. "Me tie up girl so she no escape." He bound Rosella's hands behind her back and bound her feet. Then he laid her on the furs and covered her with another fur blanket.

"Me go find food to feed wife." The troll left. Rosella sighed and held back tears as she reviewed her situation in her head. She was the prisoner of this troll. At least he didn't plan to kill her and eat her. She struggled against her bonds. He had tied her tightly, and she couldn't get the knots loose. She wiggled around and tried to reach the stone knife that lay beside the fire. She had to get loose; her father's life depended on it. Though it hurt her wrists, she managed to knock off the fur cover and moved over to the sharp stone tools. She wiggled and hobbled over to the stone knife and managed to get her hands on it. She sawed through her bonds. Once she was free, Rosella gathered up her belongings and quickly left the area.

She walked swiftly through the cave hoping to come back to the grotto with the waterfall where she had first entered these caves. But she took a wrong turn somewhere, and soon came to a ledge, where down below there was a mine.

However, it was not the dwarves' diamond mines or anything similar, but an iron mine run by ugly, human sized creatures with gray skin and bat-like ears. Rosella recognized them from one of her books. "Goblins!" The goblins were digging for iron within the earth, and they were smelting it. Rosella was careful not to let the goblins see her. She needn't worry though; the ledge was too high up for the goblins to notice her.

She left the way she had come, and searched for an exit from the caves. She found a tunnel with a purple light glowing from it, and she decided to follow it.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire, the tunnel led to a dragon! The dragon was purple and scaly, and had bat like wings folded at his sides. His four legs ended in sharp talons.

His horns were white. He had white spikes on his tail. The dragon slept curled up upon a mound of gold and jewels. Rosella was both frightened and intrigued by the dragon. He was deadly but beautiful; thankfully he was sleeping right now. She wanted to leave, but another part of her wanted to stare at this grand creature longer. Then she remembered that loathsome three headed dragon that invaded Daventry and held its population in terror, the dragon she had been sacrificed to. She decided to leave.

As she was leaving, she stepped on a gold ingot, and it made a crunching noise. The dragon woke up. "How did you get into the caves?" He said.

Rosella trembled, ready to run. "I….I….I…" she could only stutter.

"Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you." The purple dragon said gently. "It is very rare to see a human in here."

"My name is Princess Rosella, from the kingdom of Daventry. I'm on a mission to save my father by bringing him the magic fruit that grows in Tamir. I have the fruit, only now I have to get back to Daventry. To do that I must conquer the evil fairy Lolotte and recover the magic talisman that she stole from the good fairy Genesta. I came into these caves through the waterfall." Rosella explained.

"That's more like it. I'm an amethyst dragon named Alloran. I've lived in the mountains of Tamir for many years. I know Genesta, and I will be glad to help you recover her talisman. I know of a secret entrance into Lolotte's castle." The purple dragon said.

"You will help me? That's great! We must hurry though. I don't know what Lolotte is like, but if I have a dragon to help me defeating her cannot be all that hard." Rosella said.

Alloran rose and turned to face his pile of treasure. He opened his mouth and spit out white flames on the mound of treasure. The flames danced for a while, then turned into three-foot tall sprites with spears. "They will guard my treasure while I am gone. Those goblins are nasty little thieves."

Alloran lead her back to the mountain caves. He created a floating ball of white fire to see by. Between that and Rosella's lantern, they had sufficient light.

Rosella saw a dark figure ahead of them, and heard a growl. It was the troll. He had realized she had escaped, and was coming after her. Hopefully the dragon would protect her.

"Wife has left me. Me bring back wife." The troll grumbled when he saw them.

"I don't think so." Rosella said. "I am not your wife. I have made friends with this dragon here. I have no intentions of marrying a troll. I must leave these caves and return home with the fruit as soon as possible."

The troll began to whine. "Brutus all alone! No wife! Nobody to care for Brutus!"

Rosella sighed. In spite of herself she felt sorry for the troll. He was not really bad, just big and dumb, and lonely.

"Look, I am a princess from a far away land. I am on an important quest to save my father's life by bringing him the magic fruit that grows in Tamir. I only have twenty-four hours to do this, so I must hurry. Right now, I must leave these caves and find some way into the evil fairy Lolotte's castle."

"Brutus want to go with you." The troll said.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Rosella disagreed.

"Rosella, the troll's strength might be useful. Let's bring Brutus along. Besides, we will waste time if we argue with him all day." Alloran said.

"You're right. OK, Brutus, you can come along."

"Yay! Brutus going on adventure!"

Alloran lead Rosella and the troll to down a tunnel that came to a dead end. He tapped the rock wall at the end with a claw, and it fell away to reveal a secret passageway.

The adventurers entered the secret passage.

The secret passageway was made of stone bricks and was lit by torches in the wall. It slanted steadily upwards. Rosella noticed a brick that seemed to bulge out more than the others. She pried the brick loose and found a niche behind it. There was a potion bottle in the niche. She took the potion and read the label. It said, "Witch evaporation potion." The passage turned a corner and ended at a stone door with gargoyles carved at the sides. Rosella examined the gargoyle statues with curiosity. She found a red stone in the eye of one, and it came loose. She took the stone with her.

Alloran opened the door first and entered the castle. He was in a tower bedroom, with a four-poster bed covered by a green and blue quilt, and wooden dresser against the back wall. A homely young man sat in a chair reading a book. He was a hunchback and had green skin. The young man heard the sound of the door opening and saw the dragon entering his room. He dropped his book and jumped up from the chair.

"Don't scream or call for the guards, or I'll roast you into a pile of cinders." The amethyst dragon warned him. "As a matter of fact, don't do anything."

Rosella emerged from the tunnel, and then came Brutus. She looked at the tower bedroom with curiosity, then at the hunchback.

"Who are you? What do you want?" The green hunchback asked.

"We are merely here to take back what has been stolen. Now who are you? And where is Lolotte?" Alloran demanded.

"I'm Edgar, Lolotte's son. I don't know where my mother is at the moment." He said.

"Well, we'll find her. For now we have a problem getting past the guards. And with keeping this Edgar silent till we accomplish our mission."

"Wait, don't hurt him, Alloran." Rosella said. "I don't think he's a bad guy."

Edgar looked at Rosella and seemed stunned by her beauty. How did this lovely girl end up in the company of a dragon and a troll?

"My lady, I wouldn't do anything that would bring harm to you." He said to her. Rosella smiled softly.

"I could cast a spell that would put him to sleep for a few hours, then we could go find Lolotte." Alloran said.

"You'll find Lolotte we're she usually is, in the throne room. But she has her goons around her." Edgar said suddenly.

"Huh? Why would you tell us that?" Rosella asked, puzzled that he would betray his own mother.

"Because she is evil. She stole Genesta's talisman, and I know that Genesta will die if her talisman is not returned. She has been cruel to the people of Tamir. Somehow I feel that I am not her true son." Edgar said.

"Thank you Edgar. I don't think we need to cast a sleep spell on him, we can trust him." Rosella said.

Alloran looked doubtful. "Alright. I will take your word on it. Let's go to the throne room."

The party left the tower and crept downstairs. They encountered one bat-winged henchman at the foot of the stairs, but Brutus knocked him out. They stopped in the dining room at the doorway to the throne room. Rosella peeked into the throne room and saw the evil green skinned fairy sitting on her throne. Pale, bat-winged goons surrounded her.

Lolotte pointed a gnarled finger with a sharp nail at one of her goons. "I want to capture that unicorn that roams the meadows. Also I must have that magic hen that lays the golden eggs. But most important of all, I must have Pandora's box! Pandora's box contains the most powerful evil force in the world. With that demonic power I will be unstoppable!"

One of the goons wrote down a list of the three items she wanted.

"What do we do?" Rosella whispered to her companions.

"I could fly in there and blast Lolotte with my fire. But she could blast me with her own magic, and then I would also have to battle the goons." Alloran said.

"Me break goons' neck!" Brutus said.

"Bad idea, Brutus. Lolotte would zap you first."

"Rosella do you carry any items with you that could destroy Lolotte?"

Alloran asked.

Rosella brought out the items she found in the passageway. " I found this potion and this red stone in the secret passage."

"This potion will destroy Lolotte if you pour it on her." Alloran said.

"I think I've seen a stone like this before. It will protect you from evil magic. Carry it with you and Lolotte will not be able to zap you."

"Here's the plan. Brutus and I will go in and distract the guards. Then you will sneak up behind Lolotte and pour the potion on her. Once she is dead the guards will not be a problem. Then we will get the talisman and Tamir will be saved." Said Alloran.

Rosella nodded her head in agreement.

Alloran roared and ran out into the throne room. He shot fire bolts at Lolotte and at the goons. Lolotte screamed curses and zapped the dragon with her magic, but he dodged her. Then Brutus ran in and started fighting the goons. The goons were a poor match for hi strength. While they were distracted by the fighting, Rosella snuck in and crept up behind Lolotte, who stood behind her throne.

As she was about to open the lid of the potion, the wicked fairy turned around and saw her. She seized her by the arm. "So you're trying to destroy me, are you girl? Well you and your monstrous friends will suffer for this! The fairy's eyes glowed blood red and she shot a lightning bolt at Rosella. Rosella closed her eyes, expecting this to be the end, but the red stone protected her from the fairy's magic. With her free hand she opened the lid of the bottle and threw its contents over Lolotte.

"Ahh…nooooooo…. not witch evaporation potion!" Lolotte screamed. She shrieked in pain and sizzled. Steam rose from her black robe and her high gray hair. The witch melted and shriveled up till she was just a skeleton in black rags, then evaporated into a pile of green dust. Alloran and Brutus subdued the goons.

Rosella took the magic talisman from the pile of dust. They had won the battle. The remaining henchmen fled in fright. Rosella decided to go back to Edgar's bedroom and talk to him. She needed to thank him for helping them. Alloran and Brutus followed her.

Edgar was not in his bedroom. Rosella wondered where he could have gone. She bumped into him in the hallway. He was carrying four roses, one white, one red, one pink, and one yellow. "I wondered where you could have gone. I'm sorry but your mother is dead. I used a witch evaporation potion on her. I have to give Genesta's talisman back to her and return to Daventry with this magic fruit for my father. I wanted to thank you for helping us."

Edgar handed her the roses. A gold ribbon tied them together. "These are for you. I…" he started to blush. Rosella took the roses and smelled them. "Thank you Edgar. You're very sweet. I must go now." She left the castle.

Outside there was an empty stable next to the castle. The castle was on a mountainside,

with a rocky path leading down to Tamir's forest. There was a rocky space in front of the castle.

"I will fly you to Genesta's island. Brutus can you find your way back to the caves on your own?" Alloran said.

"Brutus will be fine." The troll said.

Rosella mounted the purple dragon. They flew over the mountain, across Tamir, and across the ocean. They landed on the beach of Genesta's island. Rosella entered Genesta's beautiful ivory palace. She walked up the stairs and came to Genesta's bedroom. The fairy lady lay pale and still upon her seashell bed, with her tiny fairies hovering over her protectively. Her pet snow leopard lay in a corner nearby.

Rosella handed the talisman to Genesta. As soon as the magic charm touched her hand, some spark returned to the fairy. She put it around her neck, and her green eyes regained the sparkle, and the color returned to her cheeks.

"I feel much better. You have saved my life Rosella! And you have saved Tamir from the persecution of Lolotte. Let's go outside, I want to feel the sunshine on my face." Genesta waved her magic wand, and they were outside on the beach of the island, near the gardens. Alloran waited for them on the beach.

"Alloran the amethyst dragon, it's been a long time since I last saw you." Genesta said.

"Have you helped princess Rosella on her quest?"

"Yes, Genesta, I have. Now it seems it is time for the princess to go home."

"Yes, but first let's give Rosella back her royal robes." Genesta waved her wand, and Rosella's red peasant dress changed into her white princess dress.

"There is another young man who deserves a reward for his heroism." Genesta said with a twinkle in her eye. She waved her wand and Edgar appeared. "You have a beautiful soul, Edgar. You should look like what you are." And then Edgar's form changes with Genesta's fairy magic. Edgar is changed into a more human like form, a handsome young man, strait and tall with brown hair and blue eyes and smooth tan skin.

Rosella gasps. This handsome hunk is Edgar? Edgar kneels down before her. "Rosella, I know I have known you for only a short time. But from what I have seen, you are brave and determined, and kind. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my whole life. I love you. Will you marry me?"

Rosella thought about it for a while. She thought about it some more. "I'm sorry Edgar, I cannot marry you. I must go home immediately. My father is dying."

Edgar hung his head in sadness at her refusal.

"Perhaps we will meet again one day." Rosella said to cheer him up.

"Well, Rosella, you have the magic fruit. Good bye we will miss you. Tamir will never forget you." Genesta said.

"Goodbye Genesta. Goodbye, Edgar and Alloran. Thank you all so much for helping me in my adventure. Now I must return to Daventry." Said Princess Rosella.

"Farewell!" Genesta waved her wand and Rosella disappeared from the island and was back in the throne room of her home in castle Daventry. She looked around. Everything seemed just as she left it. She entered through the magic mirror, same way she left.

She found her father's adventurer's hat lying on the floor, forgotten. She picked it up.

Rosella walked into King Graham's bedroom. King Graham of Daventry lay in bed, motionless. His wife, Queen Valanice was by his side, stricken with grief, as was Rosella's newfound brother, Prince Alexander. Rosella gave her father the magic fruit and urged him to take a bite. He did so weakly. After Graham swallowed the piece of fruit he sat up in bed, looking much better. His eyes were bright and his face had regained its color.

"How do you feel now father?" Rosella asked him excitedly.

"Never felt better in my life." He responded. "What is in this fruit?"

"It's magic!" Rosella told her family all about her adventures in Tamir. And thus ends another King's Quest.


End file.
